As might be expected, one of the great obstacles for photovoltaic energy is the nights on our planet. The panels maintain their ability to absorb light at all times, however, for long hours, they must remain inoperative. Now, in Scotland, the development of a hexagonal solar panel that could work even at night.
A solar panel that continues to work at night?
Although sunlight is an abundant and renewable resource and is even the oldest source of energy that we know of, it is also true that obtaining electricity from it has turned out to be a more complicated task than one might expect. Among other factors such as climate, the biggest difficulty in achieving a constant flow of energy to solar batteries is the rotation of the earth.
There are rotation mechanisms to move the panels according to the position of the sun and a glass panel is also being developed that is capable of redirecting light energy without the need to tilt the entire device. Although these solutions manage to significantly increase daylight performance, they cannot compensate for nighttime hours.
That’s why academics at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, have been developing an unusual solution: gigantic hexagonal mirrors that will be put into orbit to reflect sunlight during the nights towards the solar farms. This mechanism would make it possible to illuminate, with great precision, an area of about 10km with direct solar radiation for 20 minutes.
The hexagonal solar panel would rotate at equal intervals, illuminating each solar farm to offer an extra 35Mw/h for each pass it makes. The mirrors would retract after each pass until the device is ready to illuminate the next farm, so that there is no risk of causing any imbalance in the Earth’s natural cycles.
How the hexagonal solar panel works
The team of Scottish academics has named their hexagonal solar panel Solspace. The key element for the invention to be able to power the photovoltaic panels at night are the gyroscopes installed at the heart of the mechanism. This mechanism is surrounded by huge hexagonal reflectors.
Thanks to the gyroscopes and joints of the underlying structure, Mirrors can be turned in virtually any direction.. Through the already known geopositioning technology and a series of electrical mechanisms, the panels can be programmed to illuminate the solar farms one by one within the coverage area.
Redirecting sunlight at night is a perfect strategy to increase the capacity of solar panels, since it would not only allow all hours to be used, but it would also be possible to send more light at times of peak demand. In this way, farms could help balance loads on the electrical grid rather than just being a source of backup energy.
The best thing about this solution is that It would not imply any type of pollution or risk for our planet, which is why it represents the most effective and sustainable option so far. It is also worth mentioning that it is a technology that can be complemented with other innovations in this field, making it incredibly promising.
Conclusion
The hexagonal solar panel promises to be the solution we needed to be able to implement solar energy as the majority source of electricity in our cities. Expectations become even more optimistic when we think about the potential it offers for other inventions such as this sunflower solar panel that could be installed in private homes.
